Happy New Year!

As I write this there are 4 hours and 24 minutes left of 2007. I just can't believe how quickly the time flies!I can hear the music coming up from the basement, the kids are having a New Year's party with their friends, so far it's pretty tame - they're playing Guitar Hero on Play Station2. There's lots of food and from what I understand there will be games and movies going on later. Good bunch of kids so I'm not too worried - I'd sure rather have them in my home having a good time than out and about.

So... 2007 was a bit of a rough year for our family, our prayer is for a "less eventful" 2008. I'll try to recap this last year...

January 2007: Ciara began traveling with the Forensics team.(Drama)She didn't really have a fabulous year in forensics, but is excited that it will be starting up soon and she's thinking she'll have a better year. After a long battle with emphesyma, Luke's stepdad, Harry passed away. We were comforted by the fact that Harry was a believer in Christ and we knew that his suffering was ended and he was with his Savior. We traveled to Gregory South Dakota for the funeral. It's been especially hard on Luke's Mom, but she is an amazingly strong woman.

***** took a break from bloggin' to go play a few games of Sequence with Luke, I'm back at 11:15 p.m. - 45 minutes until 2008!! *****

February 2007: We looked for a retail location in Hays to open a Jinny Crickets store. There were simply no buildings that were suitable, so after much contemplation and prayer, we decided to give up on the idea for now. Ciara was a candidate for Snoball princess at her high school's winter formal.

March 2007: Uneventful

April 2007: Brandon turned 13 and Luke and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary.

May 2007: Ciara took 2nd place in the EHS IDOL competition at her school and Brandon was chosen by the graduating 8th grade class to usher at their graduation ceremony.

June 2007: We trekked to West Point, Nebraska for the wedding of my cousin Travis to his bride Angela - it was fun! We headed down a day early and enjoyed a day in Omaha at the Henry Doorly Zoo, it was a blast. The kids don't really remember having been there before since they were so little the last time we visited it. What a cool place... we'll definitely go back. Ciara and her boyfriend broke up in June, which made for a tough summer for her (and therefore, the rest of us) - they have since gotten back together and will have been dating for a year this February.

July 2007: Fairly uneventful... we did enjoy the big fireworks display in Hays and some homemade ice cream when we got home.

August 2007: We picked up Tina, our German student, from Mid-Continent Airport in Wichita, she will stay with us through the end of the school year. So far this has been an exciting adventure. Brandon and Ciara were both chosen to be a part of the student leadership teams at their school.

September 2007: Ciara was elected treasurer of the SADD group. (Students against destructive decisions) Tina played on the Freshman volleyball team and we spent our days at games and running back and forth to practices. I went in for a regular eye exam and discovered what appeared to be papiledema (swollen optic nerves). This was scary, as it could be an indicator of something serious such as brain tumor.This began a series of tests and appointments to try to figure out what was wrong with me. UGH!Floyd Kelly, Grandma Wolf's friend/companion of 15 years passed away. He was a sweetheart of a man and will be missed terribly. Even though he had moved away to another nursing facility to be closer to his family, Grandma had a hard time accepting his death. With her alzheimers progressing, it is harder all the time to deal with. She is so forgetful and it's hard to see her like that, since it's impossible to rationalize with her.

October 2007: Tina had a part in the school play, and we once again drove back and forth to practices. It worked out alright though, since Brandon began taking Tae Kwon Do and it conveniently took place on the same days as play practice. The Wolfs welcomed a new family member... little Wyatt James was born to my brother Jarrod and his wife Gina. He's precious!

November 2007: Luke broke his leg in the Home Depot parking lot, (see previous posts)and went through surgery. The road to recovery is a long one! I praised God when I found out from the Opthalmologist that I don't have Papiledema, but rather a condition called Optic Nerve Drusen (see previous posts)I was so relieved to find out that I would be ok and I could quit all the worrying and expensive testing.

December 2007: We had a wonderful Christmas! I can't believe it's already over. Luke is still on crutches, but regaining strength in his leg. Today he began walking with a cane, and that's pretty exciting. According to the surgeon, he should be back on his feet and getting around pretty well by Feb. 2nd. You know Luke... he is pushing and is determined to be walking again before that 3 month time frame. I just hope he doesn't overdo it.

***** It just got really noisy downstairs, as the ball dropped in time square - we were all watching it on Fox... gotta go get some fun photos of the kids with their confetti, horns and silly string. Will post those photos later. :) *****

So.... now it's been 2008 for 48 minutes. We are looking forward to what the new year brings. I can't believe at this time next year Ciara will be approaching her high school graduation and Brandon will be nearly through his Freshman year of high school. Tina will be back with her family in Germany. I pray that your 2008 will be blessed!

Icy Pix of the Hespe Kids

Good Doctor's Report

Luke went in for his follow up visit on the 17th and the surgeon was very pleased with his progress. The X-rays showed some signs of healing, though you can still distinctly see the breaks and bone fragments. The doctor reassured us that the bones are healing from the inside out, and that he didn't expect to see more healing than he saw on the x-rays... he said Luke's right where he needs to be and is doing very well. He is now able to bear half his weight on that leg, which as you can imagine is very painful for him, but doc says this will help his leg heal faster. We are all about that! He also said because Luke is doing so well and has good range of motion in his foot that he would not require physical therapy later on. YAY!! We don't go back now until February. Seems like a long time to me, but I guess Dr. Ahad is confident that the bones are in alignment and healing as they're supposed to. If he's not worried, then we shouldn't be either right? He still has a huge amount of swelling in his foot and ankle, especially when he's had his foot down and not elevated for a couple of hours.

He continues to ice it and ask the kids for popcorn, water, coffee.... whatever he wants that he can't carry himself. ha ha. We dont' mind helping him out, but we told him not to get used to it, because when he gets rid of those crutches we're gonna have him getting things for us! :) Brandon shoveled the 13 inches of snow we had last week since Luke couldn't get out and do it. We were really proud of our strong young man handling the hard work for his dad. He's a good kid. My dad came over with his "bobcat" and moved the snow out of the driveways. So grateful for his help too through this time, him and mom come over regularly to check up on "the cripple" and ask what they can do to help. Thank God for family!! Don't know how we'd survive without all their help and the kids pitching in too around the house.

Well... that's it in a nutshell... Luke and I headed to Wichita yesterday so he could spend a day of meetings at the office while I finished Christmas shopping, then we went to his Company Christmas party at Abuelos mexican restaurant in the waterfront area. The photo above was taken at the party last nite. We had a nice time and it felt good to get out and do something fun.We're headed home after lunch today and then we've got to finish up some work for the week and we're both taking Christmas week off. We are really looking forward to that. Today is the last day of school before Christmas break for the kids. The girls had finals yesterday and today, so they're ready for BREAK!! We all are.

Hangin' in there...

BRR.... why is fall so short and winter in such a hurry to get here? I feel like the biggest wimp with the colder tempteratures. It's inevitable I guess, but even Tina noticed that fall is short in Kansas.

Well... it's been a month since Luke broke his leg, he's still not able to bear weight on it until about Christmas time - this is making him crazy. He's so ready to be able to get rid of the crutches! He's gettin' a bit of cabin fever also. We went to IHOP today with the family for a late breakfast, then he cruised around Wal-Mart on a motorized scooter through the store and looked at "guy stuff" with Brandon while the girls and I did some Christmas shopping. I think it was just good for him to have a change of scenery. We also stopped at the Mall and the kids had their picture taken with Santa. I know it sounds creepy, but it was fun. :) I'll post it here once I get it scanned into my computer. Apparently I'm not bright enough to operate my scanner.

It's been nice to have Luke working from home all this time, but now he is talking about heading to Wichita in a couple of weeks to do employee reviews. This has me feeling just a bit nervous - I'm trying to picture him navigating himself into a hotel room on his crutches with a suitcase, briefcase and whatever else he needs. There's also the issue of the small amount of leg room in his truck - I can't imagine him having his leg down and cramped for 3 hours on the trip... he's hurting here after not having it propped up for an hour or 2. I guess I have to let him go sometime, but I don't have to feel good about it right?

The kids and I are fine, I'm busy with Christmas orders and the kids are just countin' down the days 'til Christmas break. I'm ready for it too - I'm just weary. Ok, more later and I'll post some photos too.